Nashville General Hospital pays former councilman $150k for work questioned by ex-board member

A newly resigned Nashville General Hospital Authority board member is blasting the cash-strapped institution for paying a consultant more than $150,000 through a contract she says "was kept hidden" at the height of the hospital's financial crisis.

The money spent on the services of former Nashville councilman Jerry Maynard, who was charged with improving hospital relations with key community leaders, comes in addition to more than $200,000 paid to the city's largest public relations firm during essentially the same time.

Jerry Maynard

Jerry Maynard

Submitted

Despite the expenditures, a performance review made public this week for Nashville General Hospital CEO Joseph Webb found he struggled to connect with the hospital's most important partners.

In a June 3 letter, obtained through an open records request, former board member Dr. Michelle Williams condemned the hospital's arrangement with Maynard. She questioned the amount of money paid to him when the financially strained hospital has a public relations contract with a different company.

Williams, who last week became the fifth board member to resign from the board since late May, said Tuesday that board members were made aware of Maynard’s contract earlier this year. But to this day she had never seen the document and did not know what the ex-councilman had done to earn his pay from the hospital.

After being told the contract was for consulting services, Williams questioned why the hospital would spend so much money on consultants during a timeframe when it had struggled to pay its bills.

“We have financial difficulties where I work, the first thing that has to go is marketing,” Williams said. “To have outside marketing when we can’t give raises, or even afford payroll, is not to the best thing to do.”

In a phone interview Tuesday, Maynard dismissed Williams' concerns and said he is proud of his work with the hospital.

"She’s disgruntled, and she was just throwing me and anybody else under the bus," Maynard said.

Maynard and the hospital defended the agreement, saying Maynard's company provided community outreach and amplified hospital public relations. Maynard said he did not lobby on behalf of the hospital, although he is registered with the city to lobby for AirBNB and Comcast.

However, contracts and additional documents obtained by The Tennessean appear to show Maynard may have lobbied city officials.

The company owned by Maynard received thousands of dollars to meet with city elected leaders and officials in 2016 and 2017 and discuss the hospital, including at least one meeting to talk about changes to legislation, according to Maynard invoices.

Maynard's work came amidst financial feuds between hospital leaders and city officials, culminating in November 2017 when ex-Mayor Megan Barry proposed closing inpatient services at the hospital.

Days after her announcement, city finance officials asked to review all hospital contracts in order to gauge how much emergency public funding the hospital should receive. The hospital provided a list of more than 400 contracts that did not include any agreements with Maynard. The arrangement with Maynard should have been included, hospital spokeswoman Cathy Poole said.

Nashville General's 'biggest champion'

Maynard served as an at-large member of Metro Nashville council from 2007 to 2015 and now runs a consulting firm called The Maynard Group. Known as a hospital advocate while serving on council, Maynard described himself Tuesday as the "biggest champion" for the hospital over the last decade.

In almost two years of work with the hospital, Maynard said he took Webb on a tour to introduce him to community, business and faith leaders. He said he also helped Webb and his team with media interviews and created a newsletter that goes to city employees, council members and others intended to share "good stories" from the hospital.

"We have helped Dr. Webb and the communications team to get their story out to the community at large, using conventional and non-conventional media platforms," Maynard said.

Joseph Webb, CEO of Nashville General Hospital, speaks during an interview in his office Dec. 12, ...more

Joseph Webb, CEO of Nashville General Hospital, speaks during an interview in his office Dec. 12, 2017.

Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean

Despite working closely with Webb and the communications team, Maynard said "our focus is not Webb. Our focus is the hospital."

In addition to Maynard's company, the hospital has paid Nashville communications firm DVL Seigenthaler $10,000 a month for public relations services since September 2016.

In a statement, the hospital echoed Maynard's comments.

“The Maynard Group is to amplify our work with DVLS and be 'boots on the ground,' bridging relationships with Metro agencies, Metro Schools, the faith-based communities and political/community leaders to increase NGH’s profile within each of these groups," reads part of the information provided by the hospital.

Fundraising, community outreach

The hospital first entered into a contract with Maynard in October 2016. Maynard said he didn't remember who approached whom to start the relationship.

The contract offered The Maynard Group $5,000 a month and reimbursements for pre-approved expenses.

In exchange, Maynard's company agreed to provide, among other services, "strategy and counsel for the purpose of government and community relations," "media strategy," and "strategic planning execution with government, faith, community and business leaders."

Work examples provided by Poole show Maynard's company helped create a fundraising and community outreach strategy. However, Poole said The Maynard Group subcontracted some of this work to a third company. It's unclear how much work this company completed for The Maynard Group.

Other proposed initiatives provided by the hospital were delayed or not done due to budgetary concerns and the attempt to close inpatient services at the hospital, Poole said.

Invoices submitted by The Maynard Group provide some detail of work completed. In addition to fundraising and community outreach strategies, the invoices list hours of meetings with city council members and city officials.

In October 2016, Maynard conducted "multiple meetings with (3) Metro council members" to discuss the Autumn Hills assisted living facility and "potential amendments to current legislation," according to an invoice.

In January 2017, Maynard's company received $625 for 2.5 hours after having "multiple conversations" with Metro council members and community leaders regarding an emergency budget request. The same month, Maynard's received $375 after an employee "prepped Metro Council members for the Budget and Finance Committee meeting," according to the invoices.

The invoices stopped including a detailed list of work in July 2017.

Anyone who wants to lobby city council members must register, according to city law. Violating the city's lobbying laws could result in a more than $500 fine and losing lobbying privileges for up to two years.

Maynard stands behind work for hospital

On October 1, 2017, Webb signed the latest contract with The Maynard Group. The contract guarantees Maynard's company up to $9,500 a month and reimbursements for pre-approved expenses over the course of one year.

Again, the contract promises Maynard's company will provide assistance with community relations, media strategy and strategic planing with community leaders.

No one at Maynard's company has extensive public relations experience, according to biographies on the company website. The website makes sparse reference to the hospital, including a November press release from Webb under the client news section.

Maynard also published a 90-second video in January where he recounts his own experience at Nashville General Hospital in 2009. He said the hospital saved his life after a stroke, and asks the community to spread the word about the hospital's mission.

"I think that General Hospital is in a better position today than it was two years ago," Maynard told The Tennessean, arguing hospital leadership now has a good relationship with the mayor, Metro council and the community.

Hospital board gives Webb mixed reviews

During a time when Maynard says he helped Webb improve relationships between the hospital and Nashville leaders, an internal performance review found Webb did not do a good job engaging with those leaders.

"The committee recognizes that Dr. Webb has great rapport and communicates well with Hospital management. However, it concerns the committee that the CEO lacks a strong ability to communicate effectively and maintain credible relationships with key stakeholders like Meharry Medical College, the Hospital Authority Board, Metro Government and the community," reads the 2017 evaluation, prepared by the hospital authority board's personnel committee and released Monday.

The evaluation praised the hospital's efforts to create health fairs and screenings — events Maynard said he helped produce — but the hospital lacks a "true marketing plan," according to the committee.

The hospital has received millions in emergency funding from the city in recent years. In November, city Finance Director Talia Lomax-O'dneal sent a letter to the hospital authority asking for answers to a series of questions before she could decide on whether to recommend offering more emergency funds.

In her letter, Lomax-O'dneal asked the hospital to provide a list of all vendor contracts. In response, the hospital provided the city with a list of more than 400 contracts.

The DVL contract is included on the list. The Maynard Group contract is not.

Flurry of resignations

Williams' reference to Maynard was one of several times she took a swipe at hospital leadership in her resignation letter. She is one of five board members to resign since May 21.

Her allegations come at a time when a depleted board offered Webb a three-year contract extension despite a performance evaluation that questions the financial leadership of the hospital.

On Monday, four of the remaining six board members offered Webb a new three-year contract. During the meeting, they discussed the evaluation of Webb's performance.

The evaluation said Webb did a good job improving hospital morale but did not communicate well with others and passed the buck on trying to fix longstanding financial issues.

"It has concerned members of the committee that they have not seen the level of leadership and sense of urgency one would expect from a CEO in the areas of knowing the hospital’s performance metrics and profitability," reads the evaluation, prepared by the hospital authority board's personnel committee.

"It seems that the CEO has distanced himself from responsibility and accountability for the budget (the prior year budget was not credible or implemented) and for the financial sustainability of the organization."

During Monday's meeting, Webb blamed the previous leadership and a former CFO for the instability.

Reporter Brett Kelman contributed to this story.

Reach Dave Boucher at 615-259-8892, dboucher@tennessean.com and on Twitter @Dave_Boucher1.